See real need in Volusia, Flagler

Tuesday

Dec 24, 2013 at 12:01 AM

. What we think of as poverty and homelessness are often different from reality.

TROY RAY

I sat with a colleague one recent morning discussing some of the work that we do in the organization I serve. He has been involved for a number of years. He lowered his head and slowly shook it saying, “It's so overwhelming; it's hard to know where to begin.” When we address ourselves to the matter of our greatest needs in Volusia County, it is easy to have the same response. There, in fact, is great need. But in that very reality lies the danger for us all. My experience is that most people care. At the same time, when the need is so overwhelming, it is easy to feel that one person can't possibly make a difference. Multiply that over many times and the number of people who feel that “one” cannot make a difference becomes very many people — who are immobilized.Poverty and homelessness in Volusia County are as real a challenge as they are also often unrecognized. What we think of as poverty and homelessness are often different from reality. We tend to have Third World images in mind when we think of poverty: Bony children with swollen stomachs, people standing in line for a bowl of gruel and so on. These are true images, but not of our own poverty. Ironically, American poverty is quite often indicated by obesity. This obesity comes from a steady diet of the cheapest consumables available. As a weeping mother once said to me in shame, “I have to give them something before they go to school, but I can't afford milk and cereal, so I give them soda and chips.” According to the U.S. Census 2012 Update, 16 percent of Volusia County residents live below established poverty levels. This translates into 31,292 families that live among us.The majority of these families are struggling to keep the roofs over their heads, the lights on, the cars running to get to their jobs and their children in child care. Whatever is left is grocery money. These families are the next on the list to become homeless. What helps these families avoid homelessness are private and government services that supplement them with food in significant quantities. What they need to be self-sufficient are living-wage jobs and affordable housing. The “bootstraps” come when we offer such opportunities.It is a little-known fact that the majority of homeless people in Volusia County are families with children — somewhere near 3,300 people. There are 2,200 school-age children in our school system identified as homeless. And there are around 100 minor children who are homeless and unaccompanied by an adult. Yet, most of us see the person by the road “flying the sign,” or panhandling downtown, as the stereotypical picture of a homeless person. This, in fact, is the veneer of homelessness. These men and women are the most visible — and the most difficult to assist – but they are also the greatest minority of the homeless population. Most people do not know that 40 percent of homeless people work regularly but do not make enough to get off the street. The private nonprofit sector offers a number of types of shelter. These efforts do draw down government funds, but for many of them the majority of support is local and private. These efforts are barely maintaining the homeless status quo. It is nearly impossible to bring a homeless person or family to a place of stability while they are still living on the street, using each day to satisfy basic survival needs. More shelter is needed. The greatest among these shelter needs is for single homeless adults. The current proposed Volusia Safe Harbor project addresses this need and should be seriously considered by community leaders and the citizenry. It is only in such an environment that the process of unpacking the damage of street life and training toward a new way of living can be accomplished.The reason that one person can make a difference is that they often inspire others to become involved. It is through speaking out, volunteering, donating and being heard at public forums that change begins to happen. Poverty and homelessness are not unchangeable.In upcoming weeks, The News-Journal will devote our editorial space to periodic guest editorials from local leaders discussing the challenges the community faces and ways to meet them in 2014. Today's guest editorialist is Troy Ray, executive director of Halifax Urban Ministries, a homelessness prevention and intervention agency in Daytona Beach that operates the STAR shelter and other services.